Topic: Access to Medical Isotopes
Country: Nigeria
Delegate Name: Rachel Van Boxtel
School: Forest Hills Eastern High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Nigeria position papers GLIMUN 2014 committees
Medical isotopes, otherwise known as radioisotopes, are a form of radioactive treatment used to identify cancer and other diseases, allowing doctors and scientists to have a clear depiction of the disease or tumor inside their patient’s body. Radioisotopes are also used for research purposes. These are essential for the diagnosis of life-threatening illnesses. On their innermost level, radioisotopes are molecules with a differing amount of neutrons. When radioisotopes are released in the body, they decay more rapidly at tumorous areas or places with rapid cell division. The demand for medical isotopes is rapidly increasing, and many new facilities are being constructed. Molybdenum (Mo-99), an isotope that decays into Technetium (Tc-99), is the most common. Another common material used for medical isotopes is Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU) also referred to as “weapons-grade uranium.” HEU is a main factor contributing to the controversy concerning the security risks of public safety. With wider access to radioactive materials, global terrorism and the black market could manipulate the use of radioisotopes for negative causes. Despite these risks, it is essential for countries to have access to these to ensure proper treatment and diagnosis for their citizens.
Nigeria supports the use of medical isotopes. In fact, in 2009, Nigeria began a partnership with Russia to build a nuclear power plant. This allows Nigeria the right to mine and use nuclear power for the production of medical isotopes. The Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NNRA) is a regulatory committee that will oversee the usage of nuclear power to ensure safe, beneficial uses for nuclear power in Nigeria. We recently allowed International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors into our country to inspect our not yet operational ‘Isotope Laboratory.’ We support the use of medical isotopes that are regulated by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The production, transportation, and storage of HEU and other medical isotopes does have risks. The misuse of these by the black market or by terrorists could be possibly detrimental to the entire world. However, security risks must not hinder the growth of medical possibilities and positive global change. Highly-enforced security during all aspects of the distribution of medical isotopes could alleviate much of those risks by protecting the radioisotopes. These trained security representatives should be provided by the World Health Organization. Frequent regulation inspections of the use of medical isotopes by the International Atomic Energy Agency and other organizations would help to ensure that they are used safely, and then the World Health Organization is in charge of securing proper and beneficial use. If both security and the rate and precision of inspections increase, then the public can still receive the essential treatment and diagnostic tests with low security risks. Also, medical isotopes are quite limited. Production should be increased in order to supply the world with these necessary tools and to avoid shortages that already occur in our country and worldwide. Although increased production is expensive, countries should continue to unify in the production in order to offset costs. Furthermore, the benefit of medical isotopes outweigh the cost; countries globally should recognize this and budget accordingly.
